National Council of La Raza

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), headquartered in Washington, DC, is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S.,  working to improve opportunities for Hispanics. Its website states, "To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas – assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families."

"Research led to a series of organizational meetings among Chicano leaders and, as a result, Herman Gallegos, Dr. Julian Samora, and Dr. Ernesto Galarza founded the Southwest Council of La Raza (SWCLR), NCLR’s predecessor in Arizona in February 1968. Initial financial support came from the Council of Churches, the United Auto Workers, and a Ford Foundation planning grant, and by April of that year SWCLR had received its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status."

Use of economic power
NCLR decided to hold its 2009 Annual Conference in Chicago rather than in Kanasas City, Missouri as originally planned because of NCLR's unhappiness with the Kansas City mayor's appointment of a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to a city position in 2007. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps is aggressively opposed to illegal immigration in the U.S.

In 2007, about 5,000 people attended the Annual Conference and an additional 15,000 attended the conference expo. The potential benefit from the conference to Kanasas City in 2009 would have been $5 million, according to a spokesperson from the Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association.

Corporate Board of Advisors
The Corporate Board of Advisors (CBA) is made up of senior executives from 27 major corporations, as well as liaison staff from each company. CBA members assist NCLR and its network through financial, in-kind, and programmatic support.


 * Allstate Insurance Company
 * American Airlines
 * AT&T
 * Bank of America
 * Chevron Corporation
 * Citi
 * Coca-Cola Company
 * Comcast Corporation
 * ConAgra Foods, Inc.
 * Coors Brewing Company
 * Ford Motor Company
 * General Mills, Inc.
 * General Motors Corporation
 * J. C. Penney Company, Inc.
 * Johnson & Johnson
 * Kraft Foods, Inc.
 * McDonald's Corporation
 * The McGraw-Hill Companies
 * Miller Brewing Co.
 * PepsiCo, Inc.
 * Prudential Financial
 * Rockwell Automation
 * State Farm Insurance Companies
 * Time Warner Inc.
 * United Parcel Service (UPS)
 * Verizon Communications
 * Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Personnel
Executive Staff:
 * Janet Murguia, Chief Executive Officer
 * Cecilia Munoz, Senior Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation
 * Charles Kamasaki, Executive Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation
 * Lautaro Diaz, Vice President, Community Development
 * Lisa Navarrete, Vice President, Office of Public Information
 * Gerald Borenstein, Chief Financial Officer
 * Delia Pompa, Vice President, Education
 * Sonia M. Perez, Senior Vice President, Affiliate Member Services
 * Delia de la Vara, Vice President, Strategic Communications Group
 * Eric Rodriguez, Deputy Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation
 * Jose A. Velazquez, Deputy Vice President, Affiliate Member Services

Board of Directors:
 * Board Chair, Monica Lozano, Publisher and CEO of La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language daily in the U.S. which is headquartered in Los Angeles, California
 * First Vice Chair, Andrea Bazan-Manson, Triangle Community Foundation, Raleigh, NC
 * Second Vice Chair/Secretary, Daniel Ortega, Pheonix, AZ
 * Treasurer, Dorene Dominguez, Vanir Construction Management, Sacramento, CA
 * President and CEO, Janet Murguia, National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC
 * Salvador Balcorta, Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, El Paso, TX
 * Herminio Martinez, Bronx Institute, Bronx, NY
 * Elba I. Montalvo, Committee for Hispanic Children and Families, New York, NY
 * Maria Pesqueira, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Chicago, IL
 * Arturo Valenzuela, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Contact details
Raul Yzaguirre Building 1126 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 785-1670 Fax: (202) 776-1792 Email: comments AT nclr.org Web: http://www.nclr.org

Offices also in Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Long Beach, California; Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; Phoenix, Arizona; Puerto Rico; Sacramento, California; San Antonio, Texas.

Criticism

 * Rees Lloyd and Peter Montague, "Ford and La Raza: They Stole Our Land and Gave us Powdered Milk," Ramparts, September 1970.

External resources

 * Community Development, Bank of America, accessed April 2008.